EDIT 2025-10-23 footnote 4 linking to data
EDIT 2025-10-24 footnote 5 on chargebacks
Trying to channel my best Matt Levine here...
A week ago, Farcaster announced a new Deposit Rewards program. Announcement details here^1, and there's a Notion doc^2 that gives more information.
Basically, as enticement for people to use their embedded crypto wallet in a social media app:
- users who deposit money into an embedded wallet
- will receive 10% over 10 weeks, that is, 1% per week
- on any funds that were sent after the announcement of the program
- and funds must stay on the platform in order to receive the bonus
That's 52% APY payable in USDC, a pretty appealing offer. The limits are:
- works for up to $5k
- they don't have to pay you, if they consider you are not "legitimate"[^3]
- they don't tell you the exact rules, as telling the exact rules invites rules parsing
My friend at the time wrote to me:
This is so gross
I replied huh, this looks like a great deal! wdym? He clarified:
store $5k via y...
